My Epilogue
by snsdtaenyfan13
Summary: Cheng's never approved of Dre, or liked him anyway. But that's about to change as he see's Dre for his virtues and for the first time- for real. Cheng and Dre, NOT SLASH, just a start at their best-friendship. Oneshot- the genre is friendship and general.


**A/N: Ahh, nothing like your second oneshot. I'd always like to thank my reviewers for the informative and encouraging reviews- I never would've written any of this without your encouragement. This idea came to me from a special request from a fan (thanks again). So, this story is dedicated to you **_**talking_hat**_**! Enjoy!

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My Epilogue

I really didn't think this was going to happen. I _knew _this was going to happen. I fought from making this happen. And, as always…

It happened.

I finally approved of Dre. Sure- I'd always love Meiying and not think he was good enough, but… I suppose he _was _able to protect her now. How many other people were willing to stand up for her, love her with everything they had in their hearts, make her laugh, make her blush, and protect her (well, I would, and do it much better than he could, but it wasn't my decision, mind you)?

Strange as it was- I was thinking this all as I sprinted towards Dre, preparing to finish this- I _had _to win this. We were tied- both beaten and sweaty, both traumatized, ready to fight for the girl we loved, and both not wanting to fear again.

However, I was the only one fighting for his life- Mr. Han couldn't care less if Dre lost- in fact, he'd still be so proud you'd think that Mr. Han was a wealthy father who just found out his son had been accepted to Harvard (according to Liang it was some big-shot university in America?). But no- I wish it was the same for me. Master Li with suffocate me no doubt; or at least find some way to physically and emotionally harm me as well as my friends.

Despite all this, I still had no heart or mind to defeat Dre. I knew what he was doing- what he was planning to do. The crane- of course, manipulate my movements and then do a bicycle-flip round-house kick to my jaw. Very well planned. Unfortunately… I'd known this to occur. So it wasn't much good, but I had promised Meiying, I wouldn't hurt him; you try hurting the girl you _love _repeatedly and losing that one shot that you had to make everything right. Yeah, good luck with that.

I watched, slightly mesmerized by the great increase of skill in his graceful but swift, cunning, and powerful moves- he was mastering Kung Fu. He spun, on one foot, keeping an eye on me as I ran towards him- I slowed down, as if to add dramatic effect for some movie- but no, I had to let him hit me, or I would be breaking my promise to her.

Yet… who knew I'd actually approve of someone for Meiying? An outsider at the very least? Not me. But he had indeed proved all the things I was looking for in a protector for Meiying- strength, skill, joy, love, and the ability to make her happier than anyone else in the world.

Now, as I looked into his brunette eyes, I knew he wasn't just the one for Meiying, but an ideal friend. I'd always wanted a daring, compassionate, and hilarious friend, and Dre proved all those, especially by returning to fight.

Strange as it was, in these mere zero-point-six-two seconds, every memory I'd had with the little American flooded my memory.

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His Bravery…**_

_"And Liang is disqualified for illegal attack to the kneecap!" The announcer bellowed as the audience cheered- grateful that the surprise finalist had won, yet several boos echoed, demanding that the caramel boy win the tournament automatically. Immediately Liang ceased his attack on Dre, knowing it was no longer necessary to harm Dre- and I winced, knowing the emotional pain my friend had suffered for attacking an innocent child (well, he _was_ the same age as me, but much younger not only in months but in maturity levels as well as size)__ illegally just to save his own skin. _

_ Liang visibly looked mortified by his actions, shooting Dre pitiful looks as the referee dragged him away. He lingered for a few moments, opening and closing his mouth and shifting his weight from one leg to another as if to apologize in some way, then finally decided against it. With his head hung low in dishonor, he shuffled down the steps, continually glancing back at Dre as Mr. Han crouched over him, before gently scooping him up in his arms and carrying him towards the hospital wing. _

_ As if it was enough, and I knew it wasn't, Liang and I still both shot Meiying identical looks of apology, which she returned with a grimace. I'd seen that grimace enough times to know that it read _I'm not exactly swollen with smugness you injured my best friend (or boyfriend) so… severely, but… I'd rather that you weren't burned alive by your bloodthirsty idiot. I'm still upset you didn't stand up to Master Li.

_We both nodded understandingly, I gritted and grounded my teeth as well as Feng, Yi, Yun, and Ce, my other friends, as we watched Master Li praise a contradictory Liang._

_ "Good," Master Li growled in his low, cruel voice, nodding and beaming at Liang who had his face turned childishly away from his… Master, if I could even call that vile creature that. Sulking to the back of the line, Liang shot me a look that said _Don't kill him, but I don't exactly imagine he'll be in a fit state to come back.

_ I smirked- this would surely be an easy win for 'The Fighting Dragon' dojo again. Master Li shared a look of anticipated glee with me, which I returned, slightly reluctant- was I growing fond of the little outsider? How strange. _

You most certainly are not, Cheng Zhuang Sun_, My subconscious mind roared at me. _

He seems to be a better friend than Feng, and even Liang and Ce though_, I pointed out. _

So?_ My subconscious mind argued weakly and stubbornly. _

So_ this means that you're wrong. I told you all these times- I can almost see why Meiying picked him over me- it's _your_ fault_! _I snarled accusingly at my subconscious mind. To my great delight, it stopped insulting me and teasing my patience. Satisfied, I was forced back into reality as Master Li grabbed me harshly and dragged me to the raised platform- the fighting arena. _

_ I grinned at the audience, waving as the familiar calls of "Sun! Sun! Sun!" rang out; on the inside feeling a sinking pit of doom and… most of all anxiety. _

_ The minutes ticked by sluggishly, anticipation and suspense hanging in the rough atmosphere around us. I smirked at the audience absentmindedly as I held my hands behind my back, not really paying attention as a war was raging inside of my mind. _

_ The only thing that signified that _he _was coming back was the loud, earsplitting, deafening, and indefinable roar the audience shrieked out. With a jolt, I hurtled around, seeing as he bravely half-strutted half-limped towards me. _

_ Even as I felt loathing, antagonism, and envy burning inside me- I couldn't help but admit that this boy was indeed brave._

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"May I touch your hair?" Meiying asked in a sweet, timid voice._

_I had just noticed the new comer's long brunette hair was in several thin braids. How strange._

_"You want to... touch, my __hair__?" Dre asked with an incredulous expression. Mei Ying bit her lower lip and nodded. Dre rubbed his eyes tiredly._

_"Um... okay?" Dre said, bending forward so she could rub his hair between two of her slender fingers. She touched his hair softly, and that same tender expression was back in her eyes... affection? Why would she feel affection for that American crap?_

_Infuriated and seething with envy, I stormed forward. Dre immediately moved away from Mei Ying when he saw me, his eyes widened in fear._

_"Nǐ yīnggāi liànxí [You should be practicing]," I growled at Mei Ying who looked up at me with a playful smile._

_"Wǒ [I am]," Mei Ying responded with a smile. I curled my lip over my teeth before slamming the music sheets from her hands._

_"Shénme shì nǐ de wèntí [What's your problem]!" Mei Ying stood up and shoved me._

_"Leave it!" I snarled at Dre who bent down to pick up the music sheets. He brought them back up and I slammed them out of his hands again._

_"C'mon dude!" Dre cried as he bent down to pick up the sheets._

_"Nǐ yīnggāi liànxí, rúguǒ nǐ xiǎng jìnrù běijīng zhōngyāng yīnyuè xuéyuàn [You should be practicing if you want to get into the Beijing Academy of Music]," I snarled as Dre brought the sheets up again. I slammed them out of his hands._

_"I said __leave it__!"_

_Dre bent down and picked up the sheets again. I slammed them down, but he swiftly moved the sheets out of my area of reach. I met his irritated auburn eyes for a moment before forcing the sheets out of his hands, throwing them on the floor, and slapping him into the concrete._

_Dre got up and got into a weak fighting stance- a Karate stance._

_I grinned at Ce who jerked his head towards Dre. I hadn't noticed he remained in his stance; this piece of crap wanted to fight me? So be it. I beckoned him forward, curling my fingers forward twice impatiently. The African American lunged at me, and I took Master Li's advice immediately, doing a simple sweep kick._

_Dre fell face forward onto the floor, coughing and spitting. He looked up at Mei Ying who struggled against Yi and Yun, holding her back. Dre's eyes darted to Ce who, egging him on, knowing I would win said, "Go get him! Go, go get him!"_

_The poor, unknowing boy turned back to me._

_I smirked at him. He lunged again and I crouched down, wrapped my arms around his shins, and flipped him behind me. He landed harshly on his back. I smiled in pleasure as I heard the snap of his spinal cord._

_"Chéng qǐng, shì hélǐ de. Tā shì xīn de, tā bù zhīdào nǐ shì shuí huò nǐ xǐhuan Meiying, wǒ gǎn kěndìng, tā bù huì yǔ tā cā jiān ér guò, rúguǒ tā zhīdào[Cheng please, be reasonable. He's new he doesn't know who you are or that you liked Meiying, I'm sure he wouldn't have flirted with he if he knew]-," Harry tried to reason with me but I held up a hand. I had no patience with him, on __his__ encouragement had Dre done this._

_"Lohāi [Leave]!" I growled at Harry, pointing away from... me. Harry held up his hand and joined his group of friends._

_I spit at Dre as he lie on the floor. He forced himself up and glowered at me whilst I sneered at him. He wiped the tears out of his eyes and tightened his stance. This boy was brave indeed… how interesting._

_I punched Dre tightly in his gut, then his unprotected face, before pulling my hands back and kicking him square in the torso. Dre flew back on the floor._

_"Still want to fight?" I growled menacingly at him._

_Suddenly he flew forward, his fist made contact with my jaw, and the uncertainty of it all made me fall backwards, flat on my back. I jumped up immediately, without using my hands, and snarled at him. Dre tightened his stance once again and glared at me. I kicked his stance away, punches his face, his chest, kicked his neck, grabbed him, and spun him into a flip over my back. Satisfied was an understatement of how I felt when a sickening crack emitting from his spine sounded._

_I wasn't done, he insulted me, hit me, and had flirted with __my__ Mei Ying. I sat on his waist, and raised my fist threateningly. I suddenly remembered the time when Mei Ying and I had been wrestling in the mud yesterday... and how I had hesitated my weight so she wouldn't feel it, but with Dre, I made sure he felt my entire body mass. However, as I was pondering this, this made me hesitate for a second before I harshly smacked Dre's left eye._

_Mei Ying finally broke free of Yi and Yun's deadlock hold and ran forward and shoved me off of Dre._

_ Meiying's words ("Dàodǐ shì shénme [What the _hell_ was that]!") were barely a murmur in my ear as I was still remotely surprised how many times this boy had gotten up to face me again. He truly was valiant indeed… this would be a fascinating torture subject._

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His Compassion**_

_ I watched silently behind a brush Dre and Meiying, disregarding Ce and Liang's constant protests and complaints._

_ "What's wrong?" Dre asked softly, concern visible on his gentle face as his eyes darted back and forth between the notice on the pale, dull gray wall and Meiying's anxious face._

_ "My audition is tomorrow at six…" Meiying murmured, before slowly revolving to capture Dre's brunette eyes with her hazel ones. "What if they don't choose me?"_

_ Grief clutched my heart, but before I could make a move, Dre clasped Meiying's hands warmly and reassuringly with his own. I growled and began to stand up but Liang and Ce grabbed my shoulders and forced be back into the brush.  
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_ "Don't worry, just listen to what your tutor says… You just gotta play the pauses!" Dre smiled, before turning away without saying a word and staring awkwardly into the brush we were hiding in. I held my breath- for a moment, I thought he'd seen us, but then he turned back to Meiying and grinned._

_ "See? It's easy," He beamed at her. Her pale, olive-toned, beautiful face seemed convinced and distinctly at peace. _

_ Even as I felt loathing, antagonism, and envy burning inside me- I couldn't help but admit that this boy was indeed caring and compassionate as he'd comforted my fretful and overly-anxious love whilst I had been hiding in a brush. _

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His Humor**_

**_ "You speak English? Me too!" Dre exclaimed, forgetting such obvious things in his distraction._**

**_CxMxD  
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**_ "Paa," Dre said, totally lying and unfamiliar with the term, he continued, "I listen to them all the time, they're tight."_**

**_CxMxD  
_**

**_ "So you like that, huh?" He said._**

**_CxMxD  
_**

**_ I smirked gloatingly as I watched Dre go 'Special Ed' on his chopsticks._**

**_CxMxD  
_**

**_ "But my mom says if you stand while you eat... it gives you gas!" Dre babbled. _**

**_CxMxD  
_**

**_"You know… if you spell out their initial, it's called, BAY-AM (BAM)!" Dre grinned, shooting his hands out- imitating an explosion._**

**_CxMxD  
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_**Was it truly ages since I'd waited for a best friend other than Meiying? Well, it was truly ages since I'd felt this degree of physical pain- Dre's foot had just collided harshly against my jaw.I heard a loud snap and crumpled to the floor, unable to ignore the loud, cheering, screaming crowd. Was it truly fate that he won? Or was it god's way of telling me to find a new friend?

I wouldn't know.

With a heady smirk on his face, the round announcer sauntered towards Dre, clutching the first place 'Open-Kung-Fu-Tournament' trophy in his arms.

Suddenly, as a token of appreciation, approval, and a request for forgiveness, an idea hatched in my brain.

"Wǒ kěyǐ gěi tā [Can I give it to him]?" I mumbled quietly to the announcer. He looked at me bemusedly, and after a moment of studying my expression and deeming me worthy of the task (and not having any desire to smash or steal the trophy) the chubby man handed me it.

I took it gingerly, admiring the golden, first and most important rule of Kung Fu carved into a slice of gold in Chinese from the earliest of ages. It was framed in a clear glass case- obviously for protection. I only spent a moments glance to the glass figurine at the top, doing a round-house kick perfectly straight at a one-hundred-fifty-five degree angle **(A/N: It's not exactly one-eighty in the TKK advertisement posters is it?)**. I wonder if Dre was able to that as part of his training.

Only taking one more moment to admire the trophy, I started towards Dre. He looked at me cautiously, his stance abruptly losing its tenseness and his muscles relaxing as he saw the friendliness and apology in my eyes. His brunette eyes were warm and forgiving as he smiled at me.

I stopped about a foot away from him, before unexpectedly shoving it towards him. His grin only widened as he took it. I clapped him on the shoulder with a smile in place, not an artificial one, but a true and affectionate one since I'd first met Dre, before muttering, "You've earned my approval and respect Dre. Take good care of her."

Grinning at him one last time, I headed down the stairs, prepared to face my fate as a warm, rising feeling began to take over me- emitting from my heart. As I bounded towards Master Li, overlooking his snarl and enraged scowl I felt as if a new window was opening as I'd finally made peace with my enemy. I took a mental photo of this golden, perfect picture of forever, always ready to treasure the friendliness I shared with Mr. Han and Dre, and the loving, approving smile Meiying flashed at me. My epilogue was complete.

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**A/N: Wow, writing this felt good. I hope you all enjoyed, and _talking_hat _I really hope you enjoyed this- your thoughts and opinions matter the most. So what did you think? Please review and thank you all once again- you make my day :)**

**Always Grateful,**

**John**

**P.S. Sorry for the delay on "The Karate Kid"'s next chapter, I promise it'll be up as soon as I can come up with more ideas (I have one, but I have to choose how gradually and what processes it will go through as it unfolds).  
**


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